The invention concerns the technical sector relating to article transfer devices, where the articles originate from a relative storehouse, at the mouths of supply channels of continuous blister strips.
In the specific case the present invention concerns a supply station for articles to a plurality of channels opening above a continuous blister strip.
The prior art comprises devices for article transfer, for example pills, capsules, lozenges and the like, originating from a collection storehouse. These devices are usually provided with a hopper, situated downstream of the storehouse, which directs the articles onto an underlying transfer device (usually a vibrating linear conveyor) which sorts and directs the articles towards the mouths of the channels which supply the underlying continuous blister strip.
The supply methods to the continuous blister strips by the relative channels are realized in known ways, and determine a predetermined extra number of articles at the mouths. During the functioning of the conveyors, this extra number can become excessive and for this reason the conveyors advantageously include (as described in documents EP 1,325,877, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,269 and EP 1,547,946, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,717, belonging to the same applicant) means for collecting up the excess articles and returning them upstream, on the vibrating conveyor, usually to the exit of the hopper where a special guide is provided to cause the articles to flow laterally into the main flow of the articles originating from the hopper.
The above operating modes exhibit the drawback of determining a sort of “stagnation” of the articles coming from the collecting line, at the zone of re-flow of the collected articles into the flow of the articles coming from the hopper; this occurs both due to the fact that the main flow is considerably superior to that of the articles coming from the collection line, and due to the fact that, as mentioned, the re-collected articles are laterally re-introduced into the main flow. The articles coming from the collection line are therefore forced to wait a long time before being re-introduced into the main flow.
To this can be added that during this wait the articles coming from the collecting line are subjected to the action of the vibrating conveyor and can therefore impact against one another and be broken up, rendering them unsuitable for being directed towards the supply channels of the continuous blister strips.